[pct-l] Solo backpacking

[elee at microsoft.com (Eric Lee (GAMES))]

Jon wrote:
>
Anyway, to cut to the chase, what generally is the situation with bears
and mountain lions in the area I'm talking about in the back country.  I
was also wondering if anybody has backpacked alone through this area and
what thier experiences were like.
>

Do I have a solution for you!  Get your very own bear-proof suit of
armor right here:
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772

Seriously, the main problem with bears is not so much that they'll kill
you, but rather that you'll kill them (or rather, cause them to be
destroyed).  According to this article
(http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/bears/17275) there has never been a
reported fatality or serious injury from black bears in the state of
California.

According to this article
(http://www.state.ma.us/dfwele/dfw/dfw_bear_problem_FAQs.htm#prob12),
there have been a grand total of 11 fatalities from black bears in all
of the lower 48 states in the last 103 years.  This article also notes
that "in a Yosemite study, fear was the human behavior most likely to
elicit an aggressive response by black bears, followed by neutrality and
a close approach. However, human aggression was least likely to
stimulate aggression, suggesting that meek behavior may actually
increase the chance of bear aggression."

According to this article
(http://outside.away.com/outside/news/20040109_1.html), it seems that
mountain lion fatalities are more common than bear fatalities (13
attacks and 5 fatalites in the last 114 years in California), but it
still doesn't even register on the scale of absolute risk.  It's
unfortunately that someone was recently killed by a mountain lion, but
it's still very, very, rare.

In short, you should be far more terrified about dying during travel to
the trailhead (~50,000 automobile fatalities a year in the U.S.) or
being struck by lightning (~73 fatalities a year in the U.S.).

Eric